The Frog Race (and Other Stories)
by crazysockmonkeys
Summary: Five short stories based on Daphne at different times of her life.
1. The Frog Race

Daphne snapped her umbrella closed and held her breath as she entered the pub. How she hated the smell of the place and how dark everything was- it made her skin tighten.

However, coming home often meant that she would find herself there amongst her older brothers as they slapped her on the back and talked about old times when she had been younger and carefree. The fun they always had.

By generally ruling, someone as young as fifteen-year-old Daphne would not be allowed in the pub, but the Moon boys were frequent enough to make up their own rules in the place and disregard others.

As Daphne strolled in, she put down her wet umbrella by the door and kept walking, looking in to see who was there. All she saw were familiar faces, people who knew that you didn't mess with Daphne Moon for two reasons, the first one being that she could destroy anyone of them in billiards, and the second being that her brothers acted as her own personal body guards. No matter that she was young, attractive, and on TV, most men didn't even talk to her.

She sat down at a bar stool next to Simon Moon and sighed, letting her lavender-colored rain boots dangle. "Hey there, stilts," Simon said, and Daphne fought rolling her eyes. "Get bored at home again, I presume?" She looked over at her ruggedly handsome brother and sighed. "There's not much to do. If I stay around long enough Mum'll make me do chores."

"I hear that. Another beer down here," he yelled to the bartender.

Simon was most definitely not her favorite brother, in fact he was old enough to hold down a job yet couldn't, and most of his days were spent doing just what was going on now. "Hey, Reginald, would you look who's here?" He shouted. Reginald had just came out of the bathroom and sat down on the other side of Daphne. "Alright, baby sister, what're you here for this time? I tell you, you can't come down here so often. One of these days they're gonna toss you out." Reginald was probably her most well-meaning brother, or perhaps just the one with the largest conscience.

"Naw, they wouldn't do that," said Simon. "Not to our Daphne, the famous television star. Not if they don't want their bums kicked."

Daphne smiled at him and he shoved her on the shoulder playfully.

"I know I shouldn't be down here so much, Reginald," she began. "But I don't know where else to go. I've got enough to do without Mum asking me to help with dinner or having me wash socks."

His only reply was a nod of the head, and Daphne began to let her eyes wander.

The pub consisted of one average-sized room. The bar was in the front and the door was in the back, and between that were pool tables, four exactly. Quite often Daphne would arrive to find them crooked and disorderly, and on those days there was a report of a late-night bar fight over a game of pool. Hearing things like this made her shudder and remember why her family forbid her to visit the place after five 'o clock in the evening.

Behind the bar was, naturally, full of shelves of glass liquor bottles, containing liquid of all different shades and colors. She had counted them once, but she had long since forgotten the total.

When she looked at the small area next of the shelves, her eyes fell on something she had never seen before.

It was a rectangular glass tank with water and rocks at the bottom, and in it were...frogs.

"What are those for?" she asked, motioning to the tank.

"Oh, that. We're having a frog race tomorrow. Winner gets a very handsome sum of money," said Simon.

"So I would assume that you are going to enter?"

"You can count on it."

Daphne began to think about what she might do with that money. She tried not to be greedy, but she hardly ever got any money for herself, and how lovely it would be to have money just for her! She had no idea how a frog race would work, but surely it couldn't be all that hard. "Excuse me sir," she called to the bartender. "May I enter the frog race?"

The man frowned and looked as if he were about to say no, until Simon slammed his hand on the counter. "I say she will!" he said, smiling. The bartender's sour expression deepened and he walked away.

"Only one catch, sis," said Reginald. "You've got to get your own frog. Simon and I got ours back home, behind the house. You get yourself one of those and you're all set."

"I suppose I should go catch one, then!" said Daphne with a smile.

"Alright then. Take it up in a shoebox and bring it back here," Reginald said.

Daphne got off her stool, grabbed her red umbrella, opened it up, and began to walk home.

* * *

Once she had arrived, Daphne took off her boots, umbrella, and green raincoat and placed them by the door. She raced up to her room and took a shoebox from her closet, then poked holes in the top of it with a pen. She went back downstairs and suited up again, then went outside behind the house and began her search.

Half of her backyard was filled with vast puddles, and trying to avoid them proved pointless. She strolled around the yard, one hand free, one hand holding the umbrella until she finally saw it- the perfect frog.

It was halfway submerged in a large puddle, its dark eyes staring at Daphne in such a way that almost made her sorry she had to do this. It was tall and fat, and she knew that it would probably be fast in a race, its long legs taken into consideration. She sat down her umbrella and let the rain fall on her auburn hair as she kneeled down and inched her hands closer and closer to the creature, until finally the murky water from the puddle went up in a splash and the frog was firmly in her hands.

She took the shoebox, opened it, and dropped the frog inside. Once the lid was closed, she got up and began to walk back to the pub. As she traveled, she peaked in on the slimy, wet being every once in awhile, thinking it should have a name but having no idea what to call it. Finally, on the third time she opened the box, she had it. "Why, you look like a...Finch," she whispered. "That'll be your name, then. Finch."

When she got to the pub, she handed the shoebox to the bartender and he put a yellow rubber band around Finch's leg to tell him apart from the others, then placed him in the tank. She was informed that the race was at two 'o clock tomorrow. Daphne stayed for a few minutes and drank a soda, then braved going back home again, hoping to death that there would be no work to be done upon getting there.

* * *

The next day, Daphne arrived at the appointed time, her nerves tightening as she entered the building. Already there were more people there than usual, and she assumed most were there for the race. She saw men and women alike, but none so young as she was, and she was expecting that.

She went and joined Reginald and Simon at a bar stool and waited patiently for the festivities to begin, knowing that most of the people who hung around at a place like that were notorious for being tardy.

As she sat there, she watched the crowd with interest, looking for familiar faces and naming them in her head. Suddenly, her eyes fell upon a stranger, and for a moment they made eye contact. He was an normal-looking, middle aged man, and by the look of him Daphne could tell he didn't have much money. For a moment, he looked at her as if trying to decipher her face, and then his eyes lit up and he smiled. The man then began to approach her and stopped a few feet from her stool.

"Are-are you...Daphne Moon?"

She smiled. "Yes I am."

The man grinned yet again. "Me little daughter...she just loves your show. Yes ma'am, watches Mind Your Knickers all the time. She'll be so happy when I tell her I've met you. I didn't know you lived in Manchester."

Daphne felt flattered and wished there was something she could do for this little girl. All of her life she had been poor, and she wanted to help a girl in the same situation. She glanced down at her wrist and discovered that she was wearing a beaded bracelet. She took it off and handed it to the man. "Here, you give her this and tell her it's from Emma," she said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you so much, ma'am, this'll make her so happy!" The man said.

She gleamed inside as the man walked away, then left the pub. She could only hope her gift would make it to the girl safely.

"Alright, alright!" She heard the bartender scream, and the whole place became silent. "First things first, I need some beefy young gents to help me move the pool tables." There were plenty of volunteers, and that was done very quickly. "Everyone calmly go and get your frogs from the tank." From this, Daphne found out that only ten people were actual contenders in the race, the rest were just there to watch.

Once she had Finch in her hands, she and the other participants were instructed to go out to the middle of the floor. "Here's how this'll work," the bartender began. "The first one to the chalk line down there wins, and all you can use to make that frog of yours move is by using your own bloody lungs!" At first, Daphne didn't understand what he meant, but soon figured out that all she could to was blow at the back of Finch to make him go forward.

"Set your marks," the bartender instructed. Daphne winced as she lowered herself onto her belly on the filthy, cold concrete floor. She held the frog in place until she heard her final instruction: "Go!"

Daphne began to blow as hard as she could, her chest rising and falling against the floor as she used the bottom of her rain galoshes to propel her forward. Finch hopped around pretty well, but she was focusing too hard to tell if they were winning or not. Air rushed out of her lungs so quickly that soon her cheeks began to feel flushed. She kept pushing herself, digging her feet and arms into the ground, and practically pulling the air from her body trying to get the bloody frog to move. After a minute, she felt lightheaded, and the cheers and yells of the people around her somehow seemed more muted. She knew she could not give up, that she had to win this for that girl. She kept blowing, keeping her movements precise, hard, and fast. Soon, her vision got blurry and Daphne's world began to spin. She could barely keep her head up, but she did, telling herself that by this time she had to be almost there. In one last moment, she filled her lungs with sweet air and blew as hard as she could, until Finch slipped out of view and everything became black.

The first time Daphne woke up, she laying down in the backseat of Simon's car, her head in Reginald's lap.

"I tell you, we never should have let her enter that cursed race or to even come into that place at all!" That was Reginald's voice, and he was yelling.

"Settle down, she's alright." Simon's voice came loud and clear from the front seat. He must be driving, Daphne thought.

"Simon, I think she's coming back." Yes, now she could see Reginald's face above her, his lips moving. "Daphne, are you alright? Can you see me?" he asked.

She could only nod.

"She's awake, Simon. Hang in there, sis, we're almost home."

Daphne laid back and relaxed until finally the car stopped. Strong Reginald scooped her up in his arms. "I'll be all right, you don't have to carry me," she told him.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She nodded, and he put her down.

As Daphne walked to the door, she tried not to wobble around, but that proved quite difficult. Maybe she was wrong to have her brother release her.

Finally, the door opened and there was their mum, looking at them with her arms crossed. As Daphne tried to take a few steps over to her, her knees practically gave in and she found herself stumbling toward the fireplace, and just before she did she caught herself on a kitchen chair. Dizzy, she put her head in her hands. She definitely was not all right.

"What's this, then?" She heard her mum ask. "Well, you didn't set her drunk, did you?"

"Of course, not, Mum!" Simon exclaimed. "Daphne just had a little accident is all. One of us will explain later."

Reginald came and lifted Daphne out of her chair, than carried her upstairs to her room and soon she was in bed, where she stayed until six that evening.


	2. Sparrow's Nest

It was summer, and the sun shone on everything and made it warm and bright. As Daphne drove up to the bright and brilliant house, parked and got out, she knew that she'd love living here- even if it was just to work.

Late morning light bathed her bare shoulders as she began to walk to the door, her long legs feeling free in the pleasant air. That day, she had worn a sleeveless floral print top and a knee-length pink skirt. Her long hair was in a braid down her back, and her feet were covered with sandals.

She was nervous about this. Daphne had never had a live-in position before, and she wondered what it would be like. It was hard to imagine practically living at work, but she told herself it wouldn't be so hard. After all, she liked something new on occasion, something totally different.

Ringing the ornate doorbell, Daphne waited on the front steps for the doorknob to turn. Once it did, a short woman with long, red hair was standing in the doorway, a broad smile on her face. Her name was Eva Barnett, the woman who rented the home for the summer. Daphne had found her to be a kind, considerate woman with a calm manner. "Hello, Daphne. Come on in, love."

She stepped inside onto lightly colored hardwood floors and a brightly lit room. There was not a single lamp on; the windows were so large that filling the room with more than enough natural light was not difficult whatsoever.

"Your room is upstairs, I'll show it to you in a minute. First I want you to meet him. I know you're gonna love him. Daniel, darling!" She yelled towards the direction of the stairs, and soon a blonde nine-year-old boy with gray-blue eyes came down the stairs slowly, staring at Daphne without an expression on his face. "Danny, this is Daphne. She's going to be here with you while I'm at work and help you with your knee, alright?"

"Alright then," he said, and without another word he went back upstairs.

"He's a little shy at first, but once he get's comfortable he's really a lovely boy," Eva assured Daphne, and she smiled and nodded.

When she had been shown to her room, she smiled and sat on her bed, looking around her. The ceilings in the room were high and the walls were a tranquil lavender, and there was in the middle of one of the walls was a window with long, golden yellow curtains by its side.

Daphne loved everything about the room. The flat she had gotten when she first moved to London a few months ago was fine, but she would be glad to get away from it for the summer. Everything here felt soft and light, airy and smooth, almost as if nothing could ever go wrong. Eva had said that the original owners had even given it a name: _Sparrow's Nest._ Somehow it seemed perfect.

Once Daphne had brought her luggage in from her car, she took her own private tour of the house, guessing what rooms were what and trying not to get lost. Eva had told her that both herself and Daphne would start work tomorrow.

After she was done walking all through the house, she found her way up to Daniel's room, where he was sitting on his bed reading a book on insects.

"Hi, Danny," she said, standing in the door. "May I come in?"

His eyes came up from the book briefly and looked at her. "I guess," he said, then went back to reading.

Daphne went inside and had a look around. The walls were a sky blue color and the furniture was a darker shade of brown. A few toys lay about the floor, but other than that the room in itself was neat and tidy. Following her small trip around the room, she sat next to the boy and smiled at him.

"Is that an interesting book?" she asked.

"I guess it is," he said. "Dad gave it to me. He said he read it when he was kid and he wanted me to read it. But I don't like reading. I don't even like school." He shut the book and put it behind him, crossing his arms in front of him.

The pair was silent for a moment until Daniel asked, "So, what are you going to do to me knee?"

"Give you physical therapy for it. If we keep at it all summer, you should be able to play in soccer games soon."

"What's physical therapy?"

"Would you like me to show you?"

He nodded, and Daphne began to do what she had been taught not all that long ago. Danny cringed and pulled his leg away from her. "That hurts! Are you sure you're doing it right?" He said.

"I'm positive. I know it doesn't feel very comfortable, but you'll get used to it, I think. And it'll help your knee stop hurting."

"I don't know about that," he said.

"Come on, Danny," she said, giving him a little push on the shoulder.

"Call me Daniel. Danny sounds like a little kid or a girl's name. Dad always says so."

Daphne sighed. "You really miss your Dad, don't you?"

Daniel's father had left Eva and his son at the beginning of the year, and according to his mother he was Daniel's hero. Eva had told Daphne that he had visited Danny less and less each month, and that sometimes weeks would go by without their receiving as much as a phone call from the man.

"Yes. Usually, I'd be spending summer with him while Mum was at work."

"Don't worry, we're going to have fun," Daphne assured him.

"Not if you're going to be doing that to me knee!" he said.

She sighed looking at the boy. Her brothers had been much more difficult than him, she knew, but a small part of her had hoped that he would like her right away. Now she knew that she would have to work to win his favor.

"I'll see you later, then," she said.

"Bye," was Daniel's only response.

Daphne didn't do much for the rest of the day. She went outside and explored the elaborate gardens out back. They were beautiful and abounding with gorgeous flowers, fountains, and trellises. In middle of the gardens was a small pond and a large tree with a tire swing attached to one of its branches. There was a small bench close to the water, and she sat and let everything sink in. Again, she thought about how much she would love living here. It was as if she was on vacation and not at work. It was perfect here.

The next day work began. She let Daniel sleep in, then gave him his breakfast. While he was eating, Daphne talked.

"Now, we're going to do your therapy in the afternoons and in the evenings, so before that we can do whatever we want around here. And I was thinking that after we have lunch we could go for ice cream. How does that sound?"

"Fine. Ice cream's alright."

"Great."

After breakfast, Daniel went back up to his room and Daphne did not see him again until she called him for lunch. Just as she said, they got ice cream and then came back.

"Alright. We're going to start your therapy now. Can I get you to sit in that chair over there?" He obeyed Daphne, plopping down in an armchair with an ottoman for Daphne to sit in as she worked.

It was tough on both of them in the beginning. Daniel didn't like it at all, and it was a challenge for Daphne because he would not keep his leg still.

The second Daphne was done, the boy ran upstairs without saying a word to her and she knew that that's where he would stay until his mother returned in a few hours. She felt a little stressed, as well as disappointed and worried. She decided to take a walk in the sheer, welcoming garden to help her, and it did. It was almost as if it smiled at her as she looked at the flowers.

_Good relationships take time_, she reminded herself. _He's only a child. He'll warm up to you. _

And it did indeed take time. For about the next two weeks, Daniel didn't do much of anything outside of his room unless Daphne made him. She treated him like normal and kept telling herself that eventually he would relent and begin to like her.

Everything finally changed on a warm, sunny day.

After lunch, Danny ran out into the garden in the direction of the tire swing and the pond, and after about a minute Daphne decided to find him.

When she had arrived at the pond, Daniel was sitting on the top of the tire, moving his legs and trying to get the swing to move. He didn't notice her until she asked, "Would you like me to give you a push?"

He nodded, and she walked over to the swing, grabbed the tire and began to walk backwards as far as she could, then let it go and ran out of the way. Daniel smiled as the rope took the tire high above the water and then back down again, swirling along the way. He laughed and Daphne smiled to see such a thing. They repeated the process a few more times until Daniel decided he'd had enough. Daphne sat down at the bench near the water's edge and expected him to go back to the house, but to her surprise, he didn't. He came and sat next to her, and the two were silent for a while.

Without warning, the boy asked, "So...why do you have to do therapy on me knee and why do I have to do all those exercises you give me? What is it doing?"

"Well, does you knee feel any better than it did before I came?"

He paused, then nodded.

"It's working, then."

"But why?" he asked.

"It's a little hard to explain. Part of it has to do with your blood. What I do to your knee helps to get oxygen to your injury, so it helps it to heal faster. And those exercises you do without me do the same things."

"Alright," was all he said.

Again, Daphne expected him to go back to his room, but he didn't. He stayed, staring into the water.

"Dad and I used to really like coming here," he said softly. There's fish in this water here. Dad would catch them, and I would use the swing. Sometimes we would get the rowboat and go across the pond."

Daphne suddenly felt very sad. She couldn't imagine what she would be feeling if her father left her at a young age. She didn't know what to do about it, though. It almost felt like there was nothing to say; yet she had to say something.

"I know it's difficult, facing all those memories with your dad. Do you ever do any of those things with your mum?"

"Mum doesn't like it here. She doesn't know how to swim and she's afraid of the water."

"I see." She paused. "If you want, we can go out on the boat. That sounds fun, actually."

"It is fun!" He said. "But we'll have to go get it first."

"Where is it?"

"In the shed over there."

Daniel got up and Daphne followed him to the dark blue shed along the water. He opened the door and there it was, a small rowboat just big enough for two people. They dragged it out and into the water, then hopped inside.

"Would like you like to row or should I?" asked Daphne.

"I'll do it," he said, taking the paddles in both of his hands and beginning to row. Steadily, almost rhythmically they moved across the water until they were in the very middle of the pond and Daniel stopped.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"Dad would fish, usually. So I guess we can just sit here."

And they did, without a word in between them. Daphne looked down into the luminous water and all around her, taking in the beauty of everything. Everything was so lovely, so enchanting. It reminded her of something from a storybook.

"Daniel, do you like to read stories?"

"No. They're so boring."

"Not all of them," Daphne said, suddenly getting an idea. She had seen a book on the shelf in the living room that she had read as a child, and she knew that Daniel would enjoy it. "The one I have in mind's quite interesting. I tell you what, when we get back, we'll sit on the bench and I'll read it to you. How does that sound?"

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine. I guess that'll be alright."

They stayed on the water for a few more minutes and then rowed back in. Once they had put the boat back, Daniel sat on the bench while Daphne retrieved the book from the house. Once she had returned, she sat down and handed him the book.

_"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,"_ he read. "Alice? It's about a girl?"

"Yes, but there's a lot more to it than that. Let me start reading, I think you'll like it."

As Daphne read, Daniel tried not to look interested, but he found himself getting into the story. When the chapter was done, he excused himself and was about to go when he suddenly turned around and faced Daphne. "You're not all that bad to be around," he said, and then he ran back to the house.

Daphne smiled and walked back herself.

For the next few weeks, things got better. Each day, they would go back to the same bench and read. Daniel got so wrapped up in the story that they finished their first book rather quickly and started new ones.

Unfortunately, he did not enjoy his therapy any better, but Daphne found out a way to make things easier. One day during therapy, Daniel kept flinching and pulling away from Daphne. As she worked, she told him stories about her family in Manchester.

"How many of these stories do you _HAVE?"_ he asked her.

"Hundreds. Thousands, that I could just sit here and torture you with all day. Or you could do some exercises for me and we could go to the park and play some soccer."

That seemed to work, and for the rest of them summer things kept improving. According to Daniel, his knee pain began to go away, and he began to spend more and more time with Daphne.

Their relationship grew and thrived, until by the end of the summer Daniel began asking Daphne to stay. "You could clean for us," he said. "Our house is always a mess anyways."

"I'm afraid I can't, dear. I'm only here now because of your knee, and that's almost completely healed now. Besides, you'll be in school and you won't need me around to take care of you."

He would sigh and cross his arms, and Daphne would begin to wish she _could_ stay.

But the summer came to an end. Mid-August, she said goodbye to Daniel and Eva. She wrapped Danny up in a hug and promised never to forget him, then embraced Eva and thanked her for everything.

As she got in the car and drove away from _Sparrow's Nest_ for the last time, suddenly she knew: She wanted to have a son. She hadn't given it much thought until now, but it was so clear now, she wanted a little boy of her own.

_Maybe someday,_ she thought. _Maybe someday._


	3. Gum

Daphne leaned against the counter and sighed. It was another long, eventful day of work. What had she expected from working at a convenience store?

People came. People went. It was the same thing all the time. Meanwhile, Daphne sat on a wooden stool as she checked out and helped the customers. Her co-workers had gotten used to everything by now, and they didn't even notice time passing, or so it seemed.

She was something different, however, and everybody knew that. For one thing, she had just arrived in America a few months ago, and she was trying to keep her feet on the ground until she got a live-in position as a physical therapist. Another thing was that she was young, and that this was the last thing she wanted to be doing.

Yet, she kept a positive attitude in the way only Daphne could. She served people with a smile and tried not to let her anger or boredom show, at least too much.

It was one day, when Teresa, the woman she had her shift with that day, had stepped out for her lunch break and Daphne was alone in the store that the first eventful happening took place.

The door opened, and a bell attached to it gave a helpful ring. Daphne didn't look up. For that moment, she was focused on the words on the back of a pack of gum on the front counter where she sat. As she read the incomprehensible ingredients, the customer got what it wanted and without warning set the objects down in front of her, knocking her out of her daydream.

She sat up and her eyes were hit smack in the middle with something beautiful.

It was a man, about the same age as Daphne, in a black coat. He wore a dark suit and a red tie, and he was tall in his own form. His eyes were a deep gray and his hair a entrancing brown. Everything about him was perfect in Daphne's site.

"Hello," said Daphne, trying not to let her voice waver. She had truly never seen a more attractive man, and the way he was looking at her told her that he perhaps was thinking the same thing. She felt her heart skip a beat.

"Hi," he said.

Daphne cleared her throat and began to check him out. The things he had were just simple things, some chips, a bottle of soda, that pack of gum she had been staring at as well. But each item she ravished with her hands, letting her touch fall deep into it.

"Pardon me for asking," he said, his voice locking deep within her, "but where are you from exactly?"

"Manchester, England," she said with a smile. "I just moved here recently."

"Your accent is beautiful."

"Thank you. Yours is too…I just love the American accent."

She handed him his bag, and he took it but he didn't leave. He stood there, looking at her and not bothering to move or do anything else.

"I would love to take you to dinner," he said in a low, deep voice that made Daphne want to purr louder than an old cat. "Could I do that?"

"Yes, you can," she said, not even stopping to think that she didn't even know the man's name. She didn't even stop to think why he would be asking _her _out, when normally she would have. And she didn't even stop to think that this was a convenience store and convenience stores get robbed all the time. For that moment she wasn't thinking about anything. She had practically lost her mind.

Unexpectedly, he laid his hand on top of hers. "Listen," he said. "I want you to open the cash register right now."

She had half done it before she realized what it was he was asking her to do. Daphne stopped in her tracks.

"Go on," he said in that same voice. "You don't want to make me use what's in my jacket pocket. Don't move. I want you to get off your stool, come over to me, and open it."

There was a silent alarm for these sorts of things, she knew, by her feet, but he leaned over the counter and watched her legs. He was aware, he knew these sorts of things. Slowly, with legs she was sure would fold at any minute, she got up and went over towards him. Opening the cash register, she stopped and tried not to look at him again.

He got up next to her, and his front touched her back for a second. He slid a soft bag into her hand. "I want you to put all of the money in there."

She faltered for a moment, and she felt the gun go into her back deliberately. "Do it," he said with force. Doing what he said, she began to make a plan. As long as he left her alone after he left, she could get him…she could make sure he or the money never left the parking lot.

When she had emptied the cash register, he took the bag from her hand, then he slid his hand around her hip and downwards slowly, and she cringed as he did. He gave her butt a squeeze, and she could only hope he wouldn't do anything else to her.

He didn't. He chuckled into her ear, tucked the bag into his jacket pocket and left.

That was when her plan went into action.

She sprang over the counter and unlocked the gun safe she had been taught about, the got out the handgun inside. Running outside, she silently hurried up behind the robber and with all of her might she swung the gun handle toward his head and upon contact he fell to the ground.

Right on schedule, it began to rain. Daphne ran back inside, dialed 911 into the phone and raised it to her ear. Nothing happened. Upon investigation, she found that the phone simply wasn't working. She let out an exasperated sigh and began to run as fast as she could to the Laundromat next door, through the rain and through puddles. Her shoes became soaked and little wisps of hair stuck to her face. When she had burst through the doors of her destination, she ran to the first person she saw and asked, "Excuse me, do you know of a phone I can use?" she perceived later that she must have looked like an absolute lunatic. But for that moment, all she cared about was getting the man laying on the pavement outside the convenience store taken care of before he woke up or before someone noticed and wondered what was going on.

The woman she had approached pointed to a phone in the front of the building, and after explaining to the manager of the Laundromat that it was an emergency, she was permitted to use it.

She made the call and then went back to the place where the man still lay. After a few minutes, the paramedics and police arrived. The man was taken to the hospital, his gun and the bag of money intercepted. The police officers patted her on the back and asked her to relax, and she did. They commended her for her bravery and then went away.

After everything was over, Daphne sat down on her stool again, with her head in her hands. "I've got to get a different job," she thought.


	4. Moonlit Water

Daphne had never been to a tropical beach before, but now she wondered what she had been waiting for. Everything was so beautiful and so perfect.

The water was like the center of a crystal with a touch of sweet blue, and the sky was perfectly bright. She laid face down on her towel, her feet stretching out and bathing in the warm sand. Her hair naturally shaded her neck as it dried itself of saltwater and her eyes were closed to the light of the sun. Daphne felt perfectly at ease.

She couldn't believe Dr. Crane had given her so much time off. He was certainly being generous, way more than usual.

Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she resolved not to think about work. Even though she loved her job, Daphne knew that if she thought about laundry one more time she would burst.

Easing a hand on her back, she felt heat and decided to flip over. She sat her bikini-adorned self up and then lay on her back. She smiled and looked at herself, remembering the swimsuit she had bought before arriving. It was a lively purple with orange and yellow flowers on it. It was perfect for her personality, she felt.

As time passed, Daphne thought about absolutely nothing. It was wonderful. She knew so many people who loved to go and party on their vacations, and though that was fun on occasion, she much preferred resting and being lazy when she went somewhere, and this situation fit that definition perfectly.

After a while, she decided to get up and go back to her hotel room. She gently shook off her towel and then rolled it up, grabbed the bottle of sunscreen she had brought, slipped on her cover-up, and headed to her hotel

She was staying in a well-laid-out resort in which most everything was in walking distance. Honestly she hadn't touched her car in a few days.

_How did everything get so perfect? _She thought to herself.

Things only got better when she reached her room, where she took a shower, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed. Surrounded by pillows and a lush mattress, she carried herself into a sugary sleep and stayed like that for as long as she wished. When she woke up, Daphne let the time linger over her head and she stayed covered up in bed.

That was when the phone rang. It was on her nightstand, so she picked it up without lifting her head from the pillow.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Daphne. Sorry to disturb you on your vacation, but I just wanted to check in." It was Frasier. Daphne had, for a reason unknown even to her, gave him the number to her room.

"Oh, that's all right. How's everyone doing back at home?"

"We're all doing well. Niles says hello."

"Hello, Dr. Crane!" she said, as if to Niles.

"I'll uh…tell him you said that."

"Thank you."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Perhaps a little too much."

"Wonderful!" 

They were silent for a few moments until Frasier said, "Roz is here. She wants to speak to you."

"All right." Frasier said goodbye to her and then Roz took over the phone.

"Hey Daphne."

"Hey Roz."

"So, have you found a guy yet?"

"Roz!"

"Let's cut the crap, Daphne. You're at the beach at a resort. I'm sure there are tons of available men there who would love a girl like you. I've seen how you look in a swimsuit."

"Roz!" She said again.

"Seriously, Daphne, you're not just going to go your whole vacation without doing something crazy."

"But I am! I'm having a great time just lying on the sand and taking naps."

Roz didn't say anything for a few moments. "Okay, I don't even know where to begin with what you just said. Come on! You need to chug some piña coladas, go for a night swim completely naked, show up at a party in a stranger's room—"

She laughed. "I'm not really that sort of person."

"Fine, do what you want. But remember, you only get one vacation a year, have a little fun!" 

"Goodbye, Roz." 

"See you, Daphne."

She hung up and let her friend's words hang in the air; then swiped them away. There was no way she was going to do something like what Roz had suggested.

Daphne didn't do anything else until that evening. As the sun went down, the moon came up, rising over the water. She watched it from the window of her room. Looking down at the beach below, she realized that the moon provided plenty of light. Daphne was immediately taken by the beauty of the evening and decided to embark down to the water's edge.

And she did just that. Just in case she felt like a swim, she changed into her swimsuit, which had dried by now, slipped on her cover, put on her flip flops, grabbed her towel, and went down to the beach.

When she got there, she walked until she reached a place that was quite secluded. As she faced the water, the area behind the sand was filled with large bushes and plants. Looking to the right and left of her, she saw uninterrupted sand.

She put down her towel and sat on top of it, enjoying the beauty of the night. The weather was perfect and the stars were out as well, framing the night with a golden wood. It was so lovely to be here. Roz was so wrong; _this _is how one should spend her vacation.

Suddenly, her words came back to Daphne's mind. "_You need to chug some piña coladas, go for a night swim completely naked, show up at a party in a stranger's room…"_

She thought again. "_Go for a night swim completely naked…"_

The more she thought about it, the more that actually sounded fun.

Maybe Roz was right to a certain extent, now that she turned it over in her mind. Being completely crazy on a vacation definitely wasn't Daphne's thing, but since it was just this one time…

Daphne caught herself smiling. She looked both ways just to make sure no one was coming, and then she stood up. First she pulled her cover over her head and tossed it into the sand. Slowly and carefully, she took off her bikini top and then her bottom until she was standing completely and totally bare; then she practically ran into the water and folded her knees.

The sandy bottom hit her legs as she fell in, colliding with all of her upper body eventually. The water felt so cool to all of her and she giggled and shivered slightly. She moved farther out by the light of the moon and looked back on the beach. No one else was there and she still felt very carefree. She dipped her head under the water a few times to get her hair wet and swam around a little bit like normal.

The second time she looked back, she noticed someone walking on the beach. She sank deeper into the water so that it covered her chest, but continued to play in the water.

When she was finished, she looked back at the beach. There was another person there this time, a couple. It would be easy enough to wait until there were gone, she knew.

But every time one person left, another came, and Daphne ended up being stuck naked in the ocean for a whole hour.

_Where were all these people when I got in? _She thought to herself.

Finally, a break occurred. She crept as close to the shore as she could without exposing herself and made a quick and easy plan. Turning her head to her left and to her right to check for people, she counted to ten and then sprung out of the water and raced to her things, were she threw her cover over her head, put her arms in, grabbed all of her stuff and ran back to her room, laughing to herself as she went.

When she had reached her room, she closed the door and collapsed in laughter on the tile floor. She couldn't believe that she had actually done that, and simultaneously she knew that no other person would ever know that she had, especially not Roz.

Daphne showered for the second time that day, got ready for bed, and then sank beneath the covers, smiling and laughing yet again.


End file.
